Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Jean-Bertrand Aristide (15 July 1953-) was President of Haiti from 7 February 1991 to 7 February 1996, succeeding Ertha Pascal-Trouillot and preceding Rene Preval, and again from 4 February 2001 to 29 February 2004, succeeding Preval and preceding Boniface Alexandre. He was overthrown in a 1991 military coup but restored in 1994 with the help of the United States, only to be overthrown in a 2004 coup.

Biography
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was born in Port Salut, Haiti on 15 July 1953, and he became a priest of the Salesian order. He was a committed preacher of liberation theology, but he became an opponent of the church hierarchy and his order as the political content of his sermons and his support among the people grew. He was suspended from the priesthood in 1987 for creating his own social democratic Struggling People's Organization ("Lavalas") party. In 1990, he was elected President with 67% of the popular vote, and he was deposed by an army coup on 30 September 1991 before going into exile in the United States. There, his socialist leanings ensured that the US public supported him with some ambiguity, and he was restored to power by a peaceful invasion in 1994. That year, he set up a commission to investigate the crimes committed during the three years of military rule, and he left office in 1996, with fellow Lavalas party member Rene Preval succeeding him with 90% of the vote. Aristide returned to the presidency in 2001, but he was ousted in a 2004 military coup allegedly backed by the USA and Jamaica. He went into exile in the Central African Republic and South Africa, but he returned home in 2011.